Review by: the Dark Falcon

Remember the strong line of shooters that came out for the Genesis? Man, oh, man, it was a pretty day when MUSYA came out, and I just spent days and days utterly destroying foe after foe, and it took a lot for me to get away from it (well, actually, the fire department said I needed a shower and the neighborhood was beginning to stink, so I broke down for five minutes). Ah, the shooter of old...there were a lot of good ones, not just MUSYA. Springing to mind are Zero Wing, Air Buster, Arrow Flash, and, of course, Gaiares (another cause for my unshowering days).

Now, however, 32-bit stands at a threshold for the shooter genre. Will it return, or will it find itself drowned in the long-running line of Doom clones and fighting games? Well, today I found a great gem that reminded me of how great shooters once were- and how great they can be again.

Galactic Attack, developed by Taito of Japan and published by (here's a shock) Acclaim, is an overhead shooter that stands out of the norm on several counts. So here we go...

FIRST: The graphics are stellar for a game of this field, as it uses a lot of 3D to its benefit. And, let's face it, 3D isn't exactly what Saturn was TRULY built for, so this is an unexpected pleasure. Landscapes and spacecraft show shimmering detail, and some of the bosses truly deserve credit in looking...well...out of this world (OK, a corny comment for a space shooter, but my Thesaurus is like ten miles away). There's also two different modes to play Galactic Attack in. You can either play the normal mode, which is a shrinked vertical screen with a letterboxed sort of look to it, or you can go all out and turn your TV on its side and play it the way it was meant to be, and I fully recommend this mode (just remember to put the TV back, or your mom will wonder why Ricki Lake has all of a sudden gone vertical).

SECOND: The control is sort of Panzer Dragoonish (is there such a term?) as you can use your normal laser shots or let hell break loose with locking lasers to take out the enemies. This is a necessary item as there's plenty of terror below you that only the lock-ons can take out (think of it also as Xevious, in a strange sort of way). Sure, it's not exactly the most original of options, but would you rather have the lasers or the same old "gee-I'll-drop-a-bomb-and-clear-the-screen" superbomb? In my opinion, the lock-ons are more innovative (not to mention more pleasurable as your opponents perish- HAHA!)

THIRD: The music and sound FX totally PUMP in stereo. Crank it to ten and get really close and you'll see (um, I mean hear) what I'm talking about. It actually keeps up with the action and doesn't get lost as it does in other Acclaim games (example: Rise 2 Resurrection's soundtrack- I'd rather go to a John Tesh concert than listen to that again, and, yes, John Tesh is a REALLY bad influence on the ears). But, then again, Taito's at work with the Zuntana tunes, so I'll credit them for doing it and credit Acclaim for not screwing it up.

FINALLY: There's the meaty challenge. You only have a limited number of continues, and, in the later stages, when you're blazing through a skyscraper-ladened city taking out the trash, they really pour on the firepower. Fortunately, the two-player mode evens the odds, so you and a bud can save the world together (and then you can hog all the attention with the highest score and watch him/her fume, as usual). But, if you're like me, conquering it solo is a must.

Overall, flying shooters are slowly but surely creeping their way back into our electronic universe, and I for one couldn't be more pleased. If Taito keeps making non-stop amusements like this, I'll adjust a Showermate next to my bed and keep on playin'. (Um, of course, I'll avoid electrical contact- all I need is another damn fire). I score Galactic Attack a cool 9 out of 10, and you can probably snag it up for $20 for so. Now if only Sky Target would hurry the hell up...